Even McCain doesn't read the paper

We all know that the number of people who read actual newspapers is declining. I would venture to say that 95% or so of our class is getting our news for our blogs online. But we are young students who are being educated in the online era. I wouldn't expect my grandmother (maybe even my mother) to use the internet as a primary news source. But it seems that newspaper readership among the elderly is also falling.

Newspaper readership, like paid circulation, continues to decline. And this trend is true for nearly every demographic group, regardless of age, ethnicity, education or income. Young people continue to shun the newspaper. In 2007, just 33% of 18-to-24-year-olds and just 34% of 25-to-34-year-olds read a newspaper in an average week, according to data from Scarborough Research.9 This represents a decline of seven and six percentage points, respectively, since 2000. But the largest drop in readership is seen among those ages 35 to 44: since 2000 they have seen a 10 percentage point drop, from 53% to 43%. Even the elderly, newspapers’ most loyal readers, are losing interest in the newspaper, though at a slightly slower pace. Weekly readership among those over 65 has declined six percentage points since 2000, to 66%.

Prior to reading this, I would have thought that online news sources would be somewhat discriminatory as to who they would attract. For one, access to the internet is not always affordable. Secondly, but related to that, not everyone receives the oppurtunity to learn how to use the internet as part of their education. I am making an assumption here that drops in readership=increase in online news. So are more people jsut neglecting the news altogether?